Poisonous Spam - why are people so desperate for a fraction of a cent that they do this?

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I've recently become a volunteer on a UK-based cancer charity forum. My role is to welcome people, point them to the most relevant groups and to help the admins to clean up the spam or alert the medical staff to potential suicides. Every day I'm absolutely baffled by the callous exploitation of the site by people attempting to post spam. We have regular posts from an idiot who's spamming kitchen furniture. I wonder if he/she imagines that some poor soul who just lost their husband or wife or has just been told they're going to die is going to think "Hey! Life could be immeasurably improved with some new kitchen units". I can only assume those particular spammers are just shoving their unwelcome posts without any consideration for the setting. What I find more annoying are the snake oil salesmen - the idiots pushing their ridiculous 'herbal cures' and alternative therapies. Yesterday I saw a spammer from Bulgaria pushing her 'Aloe Vera' products at people for whom they had no value. One poor woman posted that her husband had been paralysed by the collapse of part of his cancer-ridden spine. Up popped Miss Aloe Vera with a chirpy "Hey, have you tried aloe vera?" I was tempted to tell her to take that idea and put it where the poor rectal and anal patients have to put so many of their products.